I have a nifty idea...

If I were a performance artist, I would play with kitties and bunnies and cute little furry animals in front of an audience...and call it art. I'm not knocking performance art at all, I just want an excuse to play with animals.
I've been reading about Marina Abramovic, who is this amazing performance artist, but a lot of her work is extremely...painful for her. Google her, and you'll see what I mean (NOT for kids) I understand what she's doing, but a lot of performance art seems to be about pain. What about pleasure, fun or happiness? We have enough pain and suffering in the world. Testing limits is one thing, but not much performance art shows the other side.
I'm sure less people would shun performance art if it branched out a bit.
What do you think of performance art? My husband think it's the stupidest thing in the world, and sometimes I think that too, but this art form runs deep.
Any thoughts?

McKella

Last project as an art major

Thought I'd give you something to look at other than a boring intro post.

Here's the last project I did as an art major. I wrote 1,000 thoughts, 500 positive and 500 negative, on 1,000 swatches or red fabric, then sewed them together and hung them in a cylindrical fashion with the words facing inside. This is meant to be viewed from the inside, but here ya go.




The idea is "mental claustrophobia" or feelings so full of thoughts that you can't actually think. I had a lot on my mind and I felt like my art making wasn't flowing at all because my head was so full of garbage.

I wrote an artists statement somewhere, because this was my final for a class, but I can't seem to find it. You get the idea.

This took forever to make, but I enjoyed it. The writing and sewing was very repetitive and meditative.

Have a great Monday!

McKella

Intro

What is art?

Throughout history, art has been used for documentation, function, religion, persuasion, communication, expression. Art is a vehicle for ideas, ego, criticism, fantasy, lust, revenge, therapy. Art is history, status. According to my husband, contemporary art is what you call it so you don't get arrested. Art is pushing the limits, shocking, indoctrinating, changing, manipulating. I could go on for hours even though we both know I'm just spouting off stupid stuff.

What should art be?

Fun. That simple.

I started off as an art major. Then I took an Orientation to Visual Studies course and was presented with the ridiculous question above. Art is art. It's one of those questions some people go nuts over while others just say "screw it" and go make whatever "it" is. Art stopped being fun, and it became something serious and ugly. I felt like my best friend turned on me. Art, you used to be cool. I switched to a creative writing major instead, because that's a world I can handle.

Am I naive? You bet. I'd rather play around with papers and glue than suck up to art dealers or sell my soul for a gallery show. Art affects me on the deepest level, and I'm not willing to compromise that to play the art market game.

Ok, enough yammering. Fun is in the blog title, so lets have fun! I'm McKella, ex-art student and I love to collage, paint, take pictures (badly), draw, scrapbook, cook, write, and pretty much be creative in any way I can. I'm not the most skilled artist in the world and I don't try to be. Sometimes my stuff comes out absolutely terrible. I love creamy peanut butter, kitties, going for walks, grocery shopping, and this blog is yet another way for me to be creative.

Say hi, don't be shy. I'd love to meet you.

McKella